Don’s Mate at the Gas Station

Chapter 5: Congratulations Dinner

Vincenzo POV

Mated to a werewolf.

A Luna werewolf.

Everything in my body was screaming that I had won.

Not because of fate.

Not because of love.

Because power recognized power.

With Ariel Valor by my side, people would think twice before crossing me. The Valor family wasn’t some small pack hidden in the woods. They were respected, feared, and influential in ways most humans would never understand.

And now their daughter belonged to me.

Ariel Valor was a girl almost everyone hated in school.

The gossip.

The attitude.

The way she always seemed to know everyone’s business.

Most people couldn’t stand her.

Her father treated her like a princess.

Her mother adored her.

And somehow, despite all of it, she never learned when to keep her mouth shut.

I had spent years listening to her run her mouth about things she shouldn’t know and people she shouldn’t be discussing.

Now she was my mate.

That should have made things easier.

Instead, it made them far more complicated.

Because Ariel thought the biggest secret in her life was being a werewolf.

She had no idea she was mated to the heir of one of the most powerful mafia families in the world.

The werewolf world had rules.

The mafia world had consequences.

And those consequences were far less forgiving.

If she wanted to survive what was coming, she needed to learn the difference.

Fast.

I knew she had spent most of the day at the hospital with her mother, worrying about whatever family crisis had everyone running around.

Honestly?

I couldn’t care less.

Not right now.

The only thing that mattered was making sure she kept her mouth shut about what happened between us.

Because tonight I had something far more important to deal with.

A meeting.

A meeting with her father.

Most men would be nervous.

Most men would be intimidated by an Alpha.

I wasn’t most men.

Alpha or not, Dominic Valor was stepping into a world he didn’t understand.

A world where power wasn’t measured by claws, wolves, or titles.

A world where one wrong decision could get a man buried before the week was over.

And tonight…

I intended to make sure he understood exactly who he was dealing with.

Hours ago, I had left the woods where Ariel and I had been f*****g our brains out.

I took both the metal egg and the kidnapper who hadn’t been sent by my family. The kidnapper had already been shipped back home for questioning by my family.

Afterward, I returned to my mansion.

The egg was placed in a small bucket for one of the maids to clean while I headed straight for the shower.

I smelled like dog piss.

That alone was enough reason to scrub my skin raw.

Standing in front of the mirror afterward, I dried my medium-length curly hair and watched the fake brown color wash away, revealing the natural red beneath.

The disguise had served its purpose.

For now.

Placing my glasses I sigh.

I could still leave looking normal and maintain the personality I had created until I met Alpha Dominic.

Pulling on a dark purple long-sleeved shirt, I adjusted the fabric until it sat perfectly.

Then I checked my weapons.

Two small silver swords rested exactly where they belonged.

The rules of my family were simple.

Never leave without a weapon.

Never walk into a room empty-handed.

Not even the damn bathroom.

Once I was satisfied, I pulled on a pair of jeans and stepped out of my walk-in closet.

After slipping on my sneakers, I looked myself over.

Perfect.

Nothing expensive.

Nothing flashy.

Nothing that screamed mafia royalty.

Exactly how I wanted it.

Most people expected powerful men to announce themselves with designer suits, expensive watches, and enough jewelry to blind a person.

Idiots.

Real power didn’t need to advertise itself.

Especially not tonight.

I was walking into a political gathering filled with werewolves.

And one female Lycan.

One wrong move.

One wrong word.

One misunderstanding.

And I could easily end up dead.

If this had been a formal event, I would have worn slacks and played the part.

But it wasn’t.

And honestly?

I couldn’t care less about fashion.

That was the sort of thing Ariel would eventually force on me.

The thought annoyed me.

Mostly because I already knew she would win the argument.

Taking both my wallet and burner phone. I left the mansion.

Getting into the small car that would drive me to the Valor Pack, I did what I always tried to do.

Ignore Ariel.

Ignore the constant sound of her voice.

Ignore her delusional belief that she was somehow the center of the universe.

Ignore the way she walked around as if she owned every room she entered.

Ignore the gossip.

Ignore the attitude.

Ignore every stupid, irritating, ridiculous thing about her.

I had spent years trying.

Years.

And somehow she only became more impossible to ignore.

The worst part?

I loved every second of it.

I loved how fearless she was.

I loved how she never backed down from an argument.

I loved how she could annoy an entire room without even trying.

I loved how she looked at people as if she genuinely didn’t care what they thought about her.

She was loud.

Stubborn.

Argumentative.

A complete pain in my ass.

And I was hopelessly in love with that stupid b***h.

The realization irritated me just as much as she did.

On the drive to the Valor Pack, I pulled out my burner phone to check for updates on Ariel.

Nothing.

Immediately, I felt my jaw tighten.

I didn’t like that.

I quickly sent a message to one of my men.

Me| Update on Ariel.

A response came back almost instantly.

Unknown Number| She left the hospital after speaking with her mother. Said she’s afraid of finding her mate and wants to stay with her family. Boss… she said she might reject you. She’s getting ready for the dinner now.

I stared at the screen.

Then read it again.

And again.

The phone creaked in my hand.

Reject me?

The thought hit harder than being punched into a wall.

Harder than a bullet.

Harder than any threat I had ever received.

My chest tightened.

My breathing becoming heavy.

And for the first time all day, genuine anger flooded through me.

Reject me?

After everything?

After finding her?

After claiming her?

After marking her with my own fangs despite being human?

Years.

I had spent years studying her kind.

Learning their customs.

Learning their laws.

Learning everything necessary to survive in a world that wasn’t mine.

And now Ariel wanted to throw all of that away?

Because she was scared?

“f**k no.”

The words left my mouth before I realized I had spoken.

The driver wisely kept his eyes on the road.

Good.

Because if he looked at me right now, he’d see exactly how close I was to losing my temper.

Ariel could insult me.

She could argue with me.

She could drive me completely insane.

But reject me?

No.

That wasn’t happening.

Because for the first time in my life, there was something I wanted more than power.

More than influence.

More than the family name.

And her name was Ariel Valor.

Arriving at the pack house, I stepped inside and immediately spotted her.

Not Ariel.

Not the triplets who would eventually become my relatives.

Not the old couple living with the Alpha and Luna.

Mireddys.

The only living female Lycan.

My eyes lingered on her for a moment.

This woman had been desired by powerful people for years.

Feared by some.

Obsessed over by others.

She had spent most of her life hidden away while entire groups searched for her existence.

Even my own family had wanted to find her.

Not to hurt her.

To possess her.

To ensure that if the only female Lycan in existence ever resurfaced, she would belong to us.

Power attracted power.

That was how the world worked.

And Mireddys was a living symbol of it.

The funny part?

I couldn’t bring myself to care nearly as much as everyone else seemed to.

Because while half the world was obsessed with Mireddys, I was obsessed with someone infinitely more annoying.

Ariel.

The realization made a small smile tug at my lips.

A dangerous smile.

A possessive one.

Because fate had a twisted sense of humor.

Out of everyone in this house, out of every person connected to the Lycan and werewolf worlds…

I had somehow ended up mated to her sister-in-law.

And that meant whether they liked it or not, the Valor family and my family were about to become connected.

Forever.